Who Will Represent the USA in the 2018 Winter Olympics?

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With the news that the NHL is pulling out of the Winter Olympics over disputes regarding their preferential treatment, many are concerned that Team USA may not be able to put their best foot forward when it comes to players representing in PyeongChang.

Of course, the Red, White, and Blue isn’t the only country with players who usually lose to Canada, but our patriotism precludes us from worrying about those guys. But worry not, we aren’t going to send a bunch of scrubs out there — our bench runs deep here with smaller leagues, college players, players in foreign leagues, and just dudes who like to skate and scrap — and remember, the last time we played with a ragtag bunch of misfits was in 1980 for the famous “Miracle on Ice.”

FORWARDS

Mark Arcobello* – Current National League (NL) player with SC Bern
Chris Bourque* – Current American Hockey League (AHL) with the Hershey Bears
Bobby Butler* – Another AHL player, with with the Milwaukee Admirals
Ryan Donato – Fresh off the Harvard team, headed to the Boston Bruins after leaving Korea
Brian Gionta* – Just left the Buffalo Sabres, and ready to lead the team as captain
Jordan Greenway – A junior at at Boston University, he’ll be on the Minnesota Wild in the future
Chad Kolarik* – Current Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) player with the Adler Mannheim
Broc Little – Current NL player with HC Davos
John McCarthy* – Current AHL player with the San Jose Barracuda
Brian O’Neill* – Current Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) player with Jokerit
Garrett Roe* – Current NL player with EV Zug
Jim Slater* – Current NL player with HC Fribourg Gotteron
Ryan Stoa* – Current KHL player with Spartak Moscow
Troy Terry – Coming from the University of Denver, he’ll go to the Anaheim Ducks afterward

DEFENSE

Chad Billins* – Current Swedish Hockey League (SHL) player with Linkopings HC
Jonathon Blum* – Current KHL player with Admiral Vladivostok, and a former team captain for Team USA
Will Borgen – The St. Cloud State University product will head to the Sabres when he returns
Matt Gilroy* – Current KHL player with Jokerit
Ryan Gunderson – Current SHL player with Brynas IF
Bobby Sanguinetti* – Current NL player with HC Lugano
Noah Welch* – Current SHL player with the Malmo Redhawks
James Wisniewski* – Current DEL2 player with the Kassel Huskies

GOALIES

Ryan Zapolski – Current KHL player with Jokerit
(Two more goalies will be named by the end of January)

*denotes a player with NHL playing experience

As you can tell by the roster, there are a slew of players with a ton of experience at all levels. The vast majority have played in the NHL, or in the case of the four fresh-faced recent college stars, will soon after returning home. And the return of Tony Granato at head coach gives us the leadership we will need if the US want to snag the gold. If not there’s always 2022.